Is AZ-500 worth it now that Microsoft has retired it?
11 of 8,110 cybersecurity analyst job ads in the United States name the AZ-500 (Adzuna, October 2026)
Only current holders will find AZ-500 worth it now: Microsoft retired AZ-500, the exam for Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate, on August 31, 2026, so new candidates cannot earn it. Adzuna, a job-ad search site, still showed the phrase az-500 in 24 of the 7,726 US cloud-engineer ads in October 2026.
Read that count as a sign of how employers word their ads, not as a goal to chase. Holders should keep AZ-500 on their resumes until its expiration date; it can no longer be renewed. For anyone who planned to take it, the closest current match is SC-500 (Microsoft Certified: Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate), which carries the same Security Engineer role label, though Microsoft has not named it a replacement. Both are Associate certifications, Microsoft's middle level between Fundamentals (entry level) and Expert (senior level).
SC-500 expects hands-on Azure administration, the work covered by AZ-104 (Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate). If you have not done that work yet, hold off on SC-500. Start with the free SC-900 practice assessment on Microsoft Learn if security terms are new to you, then build Azure administration skills toward AZ-104.
Jump to: validity · job ads · what to take instead · requirements · salary
Show the numbers
| Item | Ads | Share of ads |
|---|---|---|
| SIEM | 415 | 5.1% |
| CISSP | 338 | 4.2% |
| CompTIA | 162 | 2.0% |
| CISM | 134 | 1.7% |
| CompTIA CySA+ | 119 | 1.5% |
| CompTIA Security+ | 112 | 1.4% |
| Splunk | 100 | 1.2% |
| CEH | 81 | 81 of 8,110 |
| AZ-500 | 11 | 11 of 8,110 |
Is AZ-500 worth it for you?
Instant answer from October 2026 job ads. No email needed.
Rarely named
24 of 7,726 cloud engineer job ads in the United States name AZ-500.
- Most-named alternative
- AWS 3.8%
- Skill asked for most
- Terraform 20%
- Official exam fee
- $165 source
Source: Adzuna job ads, October 2026.
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On this page
- Is AZ-500 worth it in 2026?
- What is AZ-500?
- When was AZ-500 retired, and what is the closest current exam?
- Is my AZ-500 certification still valid?
- How many job ads still name AZ-500?
- What were the AZ-500 requirements, and how hard was it?
- What should you take instead of AZ-500?
- What is the Azure security engineer certification path now?
- How much did the AZ-500 exam cost?
- What do Reddit posters ask about AZ-500?
- What is the AZ-500 salary?
- Sources
Is AZ-500 worth it in 2026?
Only if you already hold it: Microsoft no longer offers the exam, so studying for it can no longer lead to the certification.
- If you hold it: list AZ-500 with its expiration date and plan your next exam before that date, because renewal has ended.
- If you were studying for it or hold a voucher (a prepaid code that covers one exam fee): choose among current exams. SC-500 fits people who secure Azure resources, SC-200 fits people who handle security alerts and incidents, and SC-300 fits people who manage sign-ins and access. We found no exam credit or transition route on Microsoft's pages; check your voucher's terms with its issuer.
- If you are new to security or to Azure: try the free SC-900 practice assessment on Microsoft Learn. SC-900 is Microsoft's Fundamentals exam on security, compliance and identity, and its sample questions show whether the work interests you. Then build Azure administration skills toward AZ-104. CompTIA Security+ is the vendor-neutral alternative.
That verdict is our reading of Microsoft's own pages.
What is AZ-500?
AZ-500 is the code of the exam that earned Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate, and the code doubles as the certification's everyday name. Microsoft's page lists it at the Intermediate level (Microsoft's label above Beginner), for the Security Engineer role, with Azure as the product. Microsoft summed it up as proof of "the skills needed to implement security controls, maintain an organization's security posture, and identify and remediate security vulnerabilities."
The exam topics fell into four areas, as Microsoft's page listed them on October 7, 2026:
- Secure identity and access
- Secure networking
- Secure compute, storage, and databases
- Secure Azure using Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Microsoft Sentinel
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is Microsoft's tool for checking and protecting the security settings of cloud resources. Microsoft Sentinel is its SIEM (security information and event management), a system that collects security logs and raises alerts.
What does an Azure security engineer do?
Microsoft's job description lists three responsibilities: managing the security posture (how well protected the systems are), implementing threat protection, and identifying and remediating vulnerabilities. That work spans Azure, multi-cloud (more than one cloud provider) and hybrid environments (Azure combined with an organization's own servers). Our job-ad data counts AZ-500 in two other roles, security analyst and cloud engineer, so this page cannot say how many Azure security-engineer jobs exist in the USA, the UK or India.
When was AZ-500 retired, and what is the closest current exam?
Microsoft retired the certification, its exam and its renewal assessments on August 31, 2026. Its page now says that you "will no longer be able to earn or renew this certification."
SC-500 is the closest current match, though no Microsoft page we read names it as AZ-500's replacement. The evidence comes from how Microsoft Learn lists the exams, as of October 7, 2026:
- SC-500 earns Microsoft Certified: Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate, with the same Security Engineer role label and the same Intermediate level that AZ-500 carried.
- The Expert certification for security architects (exam SC-100) asks for one of three Associate certifications. Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate is on that list; Azure Security Engineer Associate is not.
- SC-500's skills list keeps tools that AZ-500 assessed, such as Microsoft Sentinel and Defender for Cloud, and adds tasks such as implementing Microsoft Security Copilot (Microsoft's AI assistant for security teams) and securing AI workloads.
| AZ-500 vs SC-500 on Microsoft Learn | AZ-500 | SC-500 |
|---|---|---|
| Certification | Azure Security Engineer Associate | Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate |
| Status on October 7, 2026 | Retired August 31, 2026 | Active |
| Level on Microsoft's page | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| Exam length | Not shown on the page | 120 minutes |
| Passing score | Not shown on the page | 700 or greater |
| Free practice assessment | Not shown on the page | Not available yet |
| Exam languages | 10 | 10 |
Source: Microsoft Learn certification pages and the SC-500 study guide, checked October 7, 2026.
A beta is an early release in which Microsoft is still testing an exam's questions. Microsoft's SC-500 page says practice assessments "are usually available within 8 weeks of the exam being out of beta and generally available," but it states no beta status and no end date for SC-500 (checked October 7, 2026).
The SC-500 study guide splits the exam into four skill areas: manage identity, access, and governance (20–25%); secure storage, databases, and networking (25–30%); secure compute (20–25%); and manage and monitor security posture (20–25%). Both exams are proctored, which means a supervisor watches you take the exam.
Is my AZ-500 certification still valid?
Yes, until its expiration date. Microsoft's retirement policy says: "If you earned or renewed a Certification before it was retired, it will remain on your transcript in the Active Certifications section until it expires." After that date, it moves to the Historical Certifications section.
What changed is renewal. Holders used to extend Azure Security Engineer Associate each year with a renewal assessment, a free online test on Microsoft Learn. Microsoft retired that assessment with the exam, so the expiration date on your Microsoft Learn transcript (your official record of Microsoft certifications) is now final.
Keep listing "Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500)" with that date, and mark it as expired or drop it once the date passes. Plan SC-500 as a new exam. The SC-100 page lists only the three current Associate certifications and does not say whether an unexpired Azure Security Engineer Associate still qualifies, so ask Microsoft's certification support before you book SC-100.
Show the numbers
| Item | |
|---|---|
| 1. Exam | |
| 2. Certified | valid for 1 year |
| 3. Renewal | every year |
How many job ads still name AZ-500?
Adzuna showed the phrase az-500 in 24 of the 7,726 US cloud-engineer ads and in 11 of the 8,110 US security-analyst ads that we counted in October 2026. In India, the phrase az-500 appeared in 9 of the 250 security-analyst ads and in 2 of the 1,150 cloud-engineer ads in October 2026.
We search each job title together with the phrase az-500, so the count covers only those two roles. Each figure counts individual ads, so a single ad more or less changes it; read it as a snapshot of October 2026, not as a trend. Three limits apply:
- An ad that writes out "Azure Security Engineer Associate" without the code is missed, so each count is a minimum.
- A count shows how employers word their ads. It does not show whether a recruiter would accept SC-500 in place of AZ-500.
- Our count does not record whether a job is remote, and we do not count ads in South Africa or the United Arab Emirates, so we cannot say how many remote AZ-500 jobs or jobs in Dubai exist.
An applicant tracking system (ATS), the software that screens resumes, can match resumes against the words an ad uses, and we cannot see how any given employer configures it. A search for the code az-500 will not find a resume that lists only SC-500, so write each code you hold together with its full certification name. Our cybersecurity-analyst page and cloud-engineer page show which certificates and tools those ads name in each country, and our overview of cloud and DevOps certifications covers the wider field.
Show the numbers
| Country | AZ-500 | Ads | Share of ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 9 | 250 | 4% |
| United Kingdom | 3 | 235 | 1% |
| United States | 11 | 8,110 | 11 of 8,110 |
| Brazil | 0 | 434 | 0 of 434 |
What were the AZ-500 requirements, and how hard was it?
AZ-500 had no formal prerequisites, only expected experience. Microsoft publishes no pass rate, so its difficulty cannot be measured. Its page said what candidates "should have":
- "Practical experience in administration of Microsoft Azure and hybrid environments."
- "Strong familiarity with Microsoft Entra ID, as well as compute, network, and storage in Azure."
Microsoft Entra ID is Microsoft's cloud identity service, the directory behind sign-ins and user accounts. Microsoft also warned that the exam may include interactive components to complete.
In mid-August 2026, a poster who planned to take AZ-500 eight days later asked how difficult it was and said they work with Azure daily. One reply came from someone who had taken it twice: "It was difficult." Another reply asked whether that work covered security features such as Key Vault (Azure's store for passwords and keys), Sentinel and Defender, or only basic virtual machines.
AZ-500 vs SC-200: how does the difficulty compare?
Both carry Microsoft's Intermediate label, and no official figure ranks them. The two exams test different work. AZ-500 tested securing Azure resources, while SC-200 (Microsoft Certified: Security Operations Analyst Associate) tests triage, incident response and threat hunting in a 100-minute exam.
SC-200 suits SOC analyst work; a security operations center, or SOC, is the team that monitors and responds to security alerts. Its candidates use KQL (Kusto Query Language), Microsoft's language for searching logs, with tools such as Microsoft Sentinel and Defender for Cloud.
What should you take instead of AZ-500?
Take SC-500 if your work is securing Azure, hybrid or AI workloads, and SC-200 or SC-300 if your work is security operations or identity. All three were active Associate certifications when we checked Microsoft Learn on October 7, 2026.
| Certification | Exam | Level on Microsoft's page | Exam length | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate | SC-500 | Intermediate | 120 minutes | Securing Azure, hybrid and AI workloads |
| Security Operations Analyst Associate | SC-200 | Intermediate | 100 minutes | Triage, incidents, threat hunting |
| Identity and Access Administrator Associate | SC-300 | Intermediate | 100 minutes | Identity in Microsoft Entra ID |
| Cybersecurity Architect Expert | SC-100 | Expert (senior level) | Not shown on the page | Architects who hold one of the three above |
| Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals | SC-900 | Beginner | 45 minutes | A first look at Microsoft security |
| Azure Administrator Associate | AZ-104 | Intermediate | 100 minutes | Azure administration |
Source: Microsoft Learn certification pages, checked October 7, 2026 (AZ-104 on October 5, 2026).
SC-500 expects what AZ-500 expected and adds familiarity with Microsoft 365 administration, the management of Microsoft's office and email services. Microsoft's page asks for "practical experience in administration of Azure and hybrid environments" and strong familiarity with Microsoft Entra ID.
SC-300 covers Microsoft Entra ID: identity solutions, hybrid identity and identity governance. Microsoft expects familiarity with Active Directory Domain Services (Microsoft's older sign-in system for an organization's own servers) and PowerShell (a command-line scripting tool), among other tools. Microsoft also offers a free practice assessment for it.
Azure security engineer vs Azure administrator
Take AZ-104 first if you have not administered Azure: that is the work AZ-104 (Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate) covers, and Microsoft expects SC-500 candidates to have practical Azure administration experience. Microsoft lists no formal prerequisite for SC-500, so AZ-104 is our suggestion, not a rule. AZ-104 is still active and renews for free each year. Our Azure certifications overview lists every Azure exam and the ones Microsoft has retired.
AZ-500 vs Security+ or the AWS security specialty
Security+ is CompTIA's vendor-neutral exam. CompTIA lists no required prerequisite, so it suits someone who wants a security credential before choosing a cloud. The AWS security specialty exam belongs to Amazon Web Services, so choose between it and an Azure exam by the cloud your employer runs. Our AWS certifications page covers the AWS Specialty exams, and AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner is the AWS entry exam.
What is the Azure security engineer certification path now?
As of October 2026, the path to Azure cloud security engineer work runs through Azure administration, then SC-500, then optionally SC-100. This order is our reading of each exam's expected experience, not a Microsoft rule.
- SC-900, optional, if Microsoft security terms are new to you.
- AZ-104, or Azure administration experience from your job.
- SC-500 for security engineering, or SC-200 or SC-300 if your work is security operations or identity.
- SC-100, the Expert certification, once you hold one of those three Associate certifications.
Show the numbers
| Country | AZ-500 | CISSP |
|---|---|---|
| India | 4% | 18% |
| United Kingdom | 1% | 12% |
| United States | 11 of 8,110 | 4.2% |
| Brazil | 0 of 434 | 4 of 434 |
How much did the AZ-500 exam cost?
AZ-500 was priced as one of Microsoft's Associate exams. Microsoft's certification FAQ says Associate and Expert exams "typically cost US$165 but are priced according to currency values in specific countries and regions." For SC-500, readers in India, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka should check the price Microsoft shows when they schedule the exam, before they pay.
The pages for SC-500, SC-200, SC-300, SC-100 and SC-900 show no amount and no rupee (INR) or pound figure (checked October 7, 2026). Each says only: "Price based on the country or region in which the exam is proctored."
After a failed attempt, Microsoft's retake policy makes you wait 24 hours before the second attempt and 14 days before each later one, up to five attempts in 12 months.
Show the numbers
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Fees to get certified: Exam | $165 |
What do Reddit posters ask about AZ-500?
Posters in r/AzureCertification asked whether to switch to SC-500, how to spend a voucher and how hard SC-500 is.
Posts we collected asked whether to take AZ-500 or wait for SC-500. One came from a poster with no Azure Fundamentals certification and two months to prepare, and another from someone who had just received a voucher. A poster with two vouchers asked the same question, as well as when SC-500 would leave beta. Since August 31, 2026, AZ-500 can no longer be booked, which leaves SC-500 as the only option of the two. Microsoft's SC-500 page gives no beta status and no general-availability date.
A network and cybersecurity engineer with a Microsoft AI Skills 2026 voucher asked which exam to use it on, and why. For work on firewalls, VPNs and hybrid networks, SC-500 gives "Secure storage, databases, and networking" a weight of 25–30%, the largest of its four areas; for security operations, SC-200 fits better.
A poster who passed AZ-500 and took the SC-500 beta two weeks later reported "a significantly higher difficulty level compared to AZ-500" and asked whether the exam matched the official learning materials. A poster who held SC-200 and SC-300 asked for SC-500 study resources. That poster had heard that SC-500 "is way tougher." We cannot check exam content or rate third-party courses, so compare any course outline with the four skill areas in Microsoft's SC-500 study guide before you rely on it.
What is the AZ-500 salary?
We publish no AZ-500 salary figure, average or otherwise, for the USA, the UK, India, South Africa, Dubai or any other place. Pay for an Azure cloud security engineer follows the job title, the country and the person's experience, not the exam alone. Microsoft publishes no pay figure for it, and we found no source that isolates what the certification adds to pay.
Look up the job instead of the certificate: our cybersecurity analyst role page and cloud engineer role page cover the two jobs in which we count AZ-500.
Sources
- Adzuna job-ad counts for the phrase
az-500in security-analyst and cloud-engineer ads, October 2026; analysis: CertWorthIt. How we count. - Microsoft Learn, checked October 7, 2026:
- Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500) (retirement notice, level, role, skills assessed, expected experience)
- Credential retirement policy (transcript after retirement)
- Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate (SC-500) and SC-500 study guide (length, passing score, skills, practice assessment and beta wording, price statement)
- Security Operations Analyst Associate (SC-200), Identity and Access Administrator Associate (SC-300), Cybersecurity Architect Expert (SC-100) and Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (SC-900)
- Microsoft Learn, checked October 3 to 5, 2026: Certification FAQ (Associate exam price), Retired certifications, Renewal, Retake policy.
- Questions from the Reddit posts and comments we collected in 2026 (r/AzureCertification), linked in the text.
Edited by Jere Salmisto · Data checked October 7, 2026
Questions people ask
Is AZ-500 worth it in 2026?
Only if you already hold it. Microsoft retired AZ-500, the exam for Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate, on August 31, 2026, so new candidates cannot earn it; a certification you already hold stays valid until its expiration date. In October 2026, Adzuna, a job-ad search site, showed the phrase az-500 in 24 of the 7,726 US cloud-engineer ads. New candidates can look at SC-500, the exam for Microsoft Certified: Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate. It is the closest current match, at the same Associate level (Microsoft's middle level, between Fundamentals and Expert), though Microsoft has not named it a replacement.
What happens to AZ-500 validity after the retirement?
An AZ-500 certification you already hold stays valid until its expiration date. Microsoft says a certification earned or renewed before it was retired remains in the Active Certifications section of your transcript (your official record of Microsoft certifications on Microsoft Learn) until it expires, then moves to Historical Certifications. It cannot be extended: Microsoft retired the AZ-500 renewal assessment, the free online test that used to add a year to an Associate certification (Microsoft's middle level), on August 31, 2026 (Microsoft Learn, checked October 7, 2026).
What is the replacement for AZ-500?
SC-500 is the closest current match, though Microsoft has not written that any exam replaces AZ-500 (Azure Security Engineer Associate), as of our check on October 7, 2026. SC-500 earns Microsoft Certified: Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate, an Associate certification (Microsoft's middle level, between Fundamentals and Expert). On Microsoft Learn it has the same Security Engineer role label and the same Intermediate level (a level above Microsoft's Beginner exams such as SC-900). Microsoft's Cybersecurity Architect Expert certification (exam SC-100, its senior certification for security architects) now lists it as one of three qualifying certifications, and Azure Security Engineer Associate is not on that list. We found no exam credit or transition route from AZ-500 on Microsoft's pages.
How much did the AZ-500 exam cost, and what does SC-500 cost in India?
Microsoft shows no rupee (INR) price for SC-500 or AZ-500 on the pages we checked in October 2026. Its certification FAQ says Associate and Expert exams typically cost US$165 but are priced according to currency values in specific countries and regions; AZ-500 was an Associate exam (Microsoft's middle level; Expert is its senior level). The SC-500 page says only that the price depends on the country where the exam is proctored (taken under a supervisor's watch), so readers in India, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka should check the price Microsoft shows when they schedule. A voucher, a prepaid code that covers one exam fee, can pay for the exam; check its terms with whoever issued it.
How hard is AZ-500 compared with SC-200?
Microsoft rates AZ-500 (now retired) and SC-200 (Security Operations Analyst Associate; Associate is Microsoft's middle level) at the same Intermediate level, a level above its Beginner exams. It publishes no pass rate for either, so no official figure ranks them. AZ-500 expected practical experience administering Azure and hybrid environments (Azure combined with an organization's own servers) and strong familiarity with Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft's cloud sign-in and identity service. SC-200 is a 100-minute exam about investigating incidents and hunting for threats, including with KQL (Kusto Query Language, used to search security logs), according to Microsoft Learn, checked October 7, 2026.
What is the AZ-500 salary in India, the UK or the USA?
Pay follows the job title, the country and your experience, so we publish no AZ-500 salary or average salary for India, the UK, the USA or any other country. We found no source that isolates what Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate adds to pay. Our cybersecurity-analyst and cloud-engineer role pages cover the two jobs in which we count AZ-500 in job ads.
What were the AZ-500 requirements?
Microsoft listed no formal prerequisite for AZ-500 (Azure Security Engineer Associate). Its page said candidates should have practical experience administering Microsoft Azure and hybrid environments (Azure combined with an organization's own servers), plus strong familiarity with Microsoft Entra ID (Microsoft's cloud identity service) and with compute, network and storage in Azure. The exam was proctored, meaning a supervisor watched it. Microsoft retired it on August 31, 2026.